Angelicae gigas Nakai has been used as a traditional medicine as well as an edible vegetable in South Korea. In this study, the total phenolic and flavonoid content and antioxidants of A. gigas Nakai leaves were examined in vitro via hydroxyl-radical-scavenging activity, reducing power activity, metal chelating assay, and DPPH-free -radical-scavenging assay. Among all the extracts from A. gigas Nakai leaves, the ethanol extract showed the strongest effects in all of the assays. The values for the DPPH-radical-scavenging activities of ethanol, methanol, and water extracts were 31.47, 42.14, and , respectively. Among the extracts from A. gigas Kakai leaves, the ethanol extract had the highest levels of total phenolics ( mg TAN/g) and total flavonoids ( mg QE/g), which correlated strongly with the individual phenolic-compound (p-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillin, and trans-ferulic acid) contents. The ethanol extract also showed stronger antioxidant activity than tocopherol in hydroxyl- radical-scavenging activity assay. These results indicate that the ethanol extract of A. gigas Kakai leaves possesses significant antioxidant properties, which suggests its great potential as a functional-food ingredient in the food industry.

Inonotus obliquus is one of the immune-regulatory substances and is recognized to play the role in the metabolic process of inflammation, allergy and immuntiy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of water extracts of Inonotus obliquus (IOW) on the liver lymphocyte immune function in the Sprague-Dawley male rats treated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) to induce liver damage. Rats were fed with each experimental diet and water for 4 weeks. We found that effects of IOW on interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1), phospho-signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (pSTAT1) and GATA-binding protein 3 (GATA-3) were decrease in vivo. Interleukin-4 (IL-4), STAT6, pSTAT6 and T-box expressed in T-cells (T-bet) decreased significantly lower in CCl4+IOW group than the CCl4 group. Our data indicated that cytokine protein production were increased in CCl4 group and CCl4+IOW group. As a result of this study, we assume that IOW fed could regulate the immuno-modulating functions through regulate the cytokine production capacity activated by liver damage.